A company spends on average 24% of its marketing budget on events, yet many marketers claim they have no idea how to measure the return from that marketing spend.
During an online advertising campaign, metrics such as CPM, CPC, and CPAs are each carefully tracked. So why should an 'offline' event be any different? Using an event app is an invaluable tool to know how to calculate the exact ROI of your event, so that you can use that data to benchmark future events and improve ROI with each instance.
Having an app in the hand of each attendee at your event provides a window into tracking behaviors, interactions and how they consume the information you, your speakers and sponsors provide in support of the event. It simply provides a unique data capture tool, unmatched even in the digital realm.
Help yourself & your exhibitors capture leads
An event app is the perfect tool to capture lead data when it matters most: during your event when your prospects, customers and partners are fully focused on your products and services.
It can even include a full-fledged lead retrieval module, which can be made available to select sponsors. The lead retrieval module allows exhibitors to use their own smartphone or tablet to scan a barcode on the badge of booth visitors. At the end of the show, they can download a list of all the leads they captured. Make sure to enable a lead form so that exhibitors can input extra information when they scan a badge for efficient follow-up after the event.
You can also enable advanced scenarios where the lead capture form is customized for each exhibitor. Company X wants to capture product interest, while Company Y wants to capture some extra personal info. It goes without saying that you can charge your sponsors extra for these types of services, after all 72% of exhibitors and sponsors attend events to increase leads.
Through lead scoring, create a personalized experience
Marketers spend a lot of time ensuring that leads are being captured and stored in a CRM or marketing automation database. This data often includes the lead's interest in certain products or services, readiness to buy, etc. This type of data is likely already being captured through the company's website, email campaigns, and other digital channels. However, events can be something of a “black hole” when it comes to capturing lead data.
Think of your event app as a virtual sales representative; in the pocket of your attendees, available throughout the day to interact on your brand, products and topics as you have defined them. The app is a way for your audience to express their interests in two ways:
- Direct - pushing surveys via push notifications, asking questions, involving attendees in discussions, and getting instant replies through the app.
- Indirect - bookmarking content they like or adding a workshop to their personal agenda in the app are valuable pieces of lead data.
A smartphone is considered a personal device, and your app should act accordingly. A good event app is a personalized event app. For example, think of a personal schedule for each attendee.
The attendee's initial selection of sessions can be pulled automatically from your registration system, placed in the mobile event app, and can then be utilized by the participants to further personalize and customize their schedule, based on the agenda function in the app. Attendees will tap the 'add to my schedule' button to select the sessions, breakouts, individual meetings, social events and workshops they will attend. The app then becomes the 'schedule of record', notifying the user of upcoming sessions and will make sure no double bookings occur for parallel tracks.
All of that information is then pushed back to your CRM system, allowing you to create a personalized experience for your attendee in the future. You know their interests and what will hopefully make them want to return to your company or event!
With the inclusion of data acquisition, lead generation, way finding capabilities and much more, an event app is a tool that has become a necessity for events and a vital element in an event's overall marketing strategy.
